The Christmas Deal
by seritha
Summary: A Harry/Ginny one shot that wouldn't leave me alone


**Disclaimer: I dont own it.**

The wind howled outside, snow coming down in sheets of pure white. The fire roared in the fireplace of the common room. Almost everyone in Gryffindor Tower was fast asleep in their rooms, with Christmas being only two days away.

Harry and Ginny, however, were wide awake, sitting across from each other over a chess table.

"Do you think we are going to wake anyone?" Harry asked as he moved his pawn.

"If you don't throw a fit when I win," Ginny responded as she moved her rook to take his pawn, grinning in triumph.

"You won't win," he told her as his queen took her rook.

"So you say," she replied as she focused on the game.

Harry said nothing as he looked up at her. She leaned forward, her brown eyes intent on the game board in front of her. He couldn't help but smile. This had become an unspoken tradition after the Yule ball two years ago. They had stayed up late that night just playing Chess. It seemed like something to do and they'd done it every night a week before every holiday.

She usually won most of the games but Harry did win on occasion.

He thought back to their very first game.

_Harry walked down the steps from his dorm room into the common room. He hadn't been able to sleep properly and Neville coming in had only made it harder for him to sleep. Once the other boy had fallen asleep he got out of his bed._

_He stopped when he saw her sitting on the couch, still in her dress from the Yule Ball. Surprised he stepped forward quietly, till he stood behind her, and that was when he heard her quiet cries._

_Ginny was crying, he couldn't believe it. He reached forward but stopped not sure if he should be bothering her at all. Then decided to talk to her._

_"Gin," he whispered softly, his hand brushing her red hair as he set his hand on her shoulder._

_She stiffened the second his hand touched her shoulder. Ginny said nothing but slowly turned to look up at him. Her eyes were red from crying and her hair fell down into her eyes, which were brighter._

_Ginny tried to move but Harry gently pressed his hand more into her shoulder, making her stop moving._

_"What's wrong?"_

_"N-Nothing," she stammered as she tried to pull away and Harry let her._

_She stood up, moving away from him and towards the girl's dormitory. Just as she was passing him, he reached out, grasping her arm gently as he turned her back towards him. _

_Surprisingly Ginny moved toward him, burying her face in his chest, as he hugged her. She cried into his chest, Harry felt a bit awkward but realized that she probably needed this. _

_"It's alright," he told her softly as he rubbed her back. He'd never had someone cry to him, or against, or even a girl. _

_He just held her as she cried, not sure if there was really anything else he could do for her._

_Eventually her cries stopped and she continued to rest her head against his chest._

_"What happened?" he asked her._

_"Harry, can I ask you something?" she said into his chest that he was lucky he heard her._

_"Sure."_

_"Will you promise to answer me honestly?" _

_"Yes."  
"Promise," she prompted._

_"I promise," he told her softly. "What is it?"  
"What do you think of me Harry? And not just what Ron has told you to think," she said as she looked up at him. _

_Harry was a bit startled by this question and was not really sure how to answer. He also made the mistake of looking down at her. Her eyes were still red from having cried but there was a new light there, hopeful. _

_"I…I…never…never really thought about it," he responded._

_"Try, please."_

_He just kind of blanked out._

_"How about this, we will play a couple games of chess until you figure it out," she said as she pulled him towards the chess board._

_Harry nodded as he sat down._

_So began their first three games, played in silence or with teasing comments. All the while Harry was musing over what he thought of Ginny._

_"I think…" he started as he moved one of his pieces. "That you are the most interesting person I've ever met."_

_"How so?" she questioned as she moved her piece to take his._

_"Well I've hardly had a chance to talk to you over the years but from what I've seen you're exceptionally devious. I chalk that up to you having to keep up with Fred and George all these years but you are probably much better at pranks then they ever will be." He said as he took her pawn. "You are really powerful because I always hear Hermione mumbling about you beating her scores."_

_Ginny smirked at this and smiled slightly. _

_"You are sweet and you always stick up for your friends. Not only that but you have a brilliant smile and you're cute. I know you're good at Quidditch, you can't grow up in your family and not be. Like I said you are the most interesting person I've ever met."_

_Ginny blushed slightly at the praise, knowing that it took a lot for him to say anything. _

_"Thank you," she whispered softly._

_"Anytime," he said as they continued their game in silence._

_"We should do this more often," Ginny told him a little while later._

_"We should," Harry readily agreed. _

_They smiled at each other. "How about we make a deal," Ginny prompted._

_"What kind of deal and should I be worried?"  
"How about we keep track of how many games each of us win and the first one to fifty wins, gets a prize."_

_"What kind of prize?" Harry questioned. _

_"How about a date and a kiss?" Ginny put in as she took Harry's queen._

_He frowned and moved his rook to take her knight. "Deal," he said. "First one to fifty."_

_Ginny smiled as she moved her queen into place. "Check mate."_

Harry shook his head slightly, making Ginny look up at him.

"What?"

"Just thinking is all," he told her as he paid more attention to the game.

"Check mate," she said in triumph. "You probably should have paid attention to the game."

"Probably," he told her with a smile. He pulled out the piece of parchment and marked yet another win for Ginny.

"So what's the score?" Ginny asked as she began to reset the game.

"I've got thirty four and you have…fifty," Harry told her.

"Alright, see you aren't as bad as you think you are," she said with a smile.

Harry watched her, amazed that she wasn't making a response. _She must have forgotten_, he thought stunned.

"Yes I must not be," he replied softly.

"What?" she asked as she saw the shocked look on his face.

He handed her the parchment so she could look it over.

"You read it right, you have thirty four and I have…have fifty," she said in awe.

"Yep, took you a few years to do it too," he told her.

"Wow, I didn't even remember till just now."

"I figured as much." He chuckled as he finished setting up the board.

"You don't have to go through with this," she told him after a moment.

"A deal is a deal Gin."

She couldn't help but grin. "Alright."

"When do you want your date?" He questioned as he put the last piece in place.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Where are we going to go?"

"You'll see," she told him with a grin on her face.

They played only two more games before they called it a night. Ginny smiled at him when she got up.

"See you tomorrow," she said.

"Night," he replied.

Ginny bit her lip, before stepping forward. She stood on her toes as she leaned up, kissing him full on the lips. It was a short kiss but one that left Harry paralyzed. Ginny said nothing as she turned and ran up the stairs to her dorm.

Harry was up bright and earlier and was already down in the Great Hall when Ginny arrived for breakfast. She sat down beside him and piled food onto her plate.

"Morning," she said cheerfully.

"Mornin'," he replied as he snatched a piece of toast out of her hand.

"Hey," she snapped as she took it back, taking a bite out of it before he took it again.

"Don't take my food," he told her as he bite into the piece of toast as well.

"You took it from _me_," she said as she just went to eating what was on her plate.

The two continued their breakfast as they elbowed each other back and forth. Soon Hermione and Ron arrived, shaking their head at their antics.

"You left us," Ron pointed out to Harry as he began his breakfast.

"I was up early and I was too hungry to wait for you."

"Thanks so much mate."

"Anytime," Harry said with a laugh.

"Come on, we've things to do," Ginny told him as she got to her feet.

"Where are you two going?" Hermione asked them, eyebrow raised.

"Somewhere," was Ginny's only response as she dragged Harry out of the Great hall.

"Where are we going?" He questioned once they'd left.

"Well I gave it a lot of thought and it's just too cold to do anything outside. So we are going to the Room of Requirements."

"To?"

"Have our date."

The two spent the whole day in the Room of Requirements having their date. Harry had no idea how much fun they could have but since the room could change to their whim it made the day quite enjoyable.

They were both grinning as they headed back to the common room. It was after dinner and they quickly made their way to the kitchen. Dobby was more than happy to feed them as they talked and joked around.

By the time they made it to the common room it was just before curfew. Hermione and a few others were awake when they came in.

"You two almost didn't make it," she told them as they sat beside her on the couch.

"Yes but we _did_ make it," Ginny told her friend with a smile as she snuggled into Harry's side, his arm draped over her shoulder.

"Did you and Ron have a good day?" Harry questioned.

'Kind of uneventful, what were you two up to?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I was just making good on a deal we made."

"He did a very good job at that," Ginny put in chuckling.

"What was it?"

"You see a couple of years ago I made this deal with him that if one of us won fifty games of chess that the winner would get a date and a kiss."

"She won," Harry told Hermione with a shake of his head.

"It wasn't that hard."

"Took you a couple of years."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing you got payment for both?"

"Most definitely. So that is where we were all day."

"Wonderful. I don't know how Ron will react to all of this."

"Probably alright," Harry replied with a shrug. "I'll tell him before I go to bed."

"Besides he was nice enough to keep to the deal," Ginny told him.

"Although it might have been worse if I chose not to."

"It would have been."

"You two amaze me," Hermione said with a laugh. "Don't stay up too late, Christmas is tomorrow."

"Night," the two said together.

They sat in silence before the fire as their fellow students left to get some sleep. It was a rare Christmas that there were so many people at the school.

"Did you have fun?" Ginny asked.

"Yes did you?"

"Of course," she told him as she sat up, stretching. "I'm off to bed. Thanks for the great day Harry."

"Shouldn't I be thanking you?" he questioned as he got up on his feet, helping Ginny up with him.

"Yes you should."

Harry smiled down at her and Ginny moved to hug him.

"I really did have a great time, Gin," he whispered into her hair.

"I did too," she replied as she snuggled more into his chest.

He grinned as he kissed the top of her head. "Night."

"Night." Ginny pulled away and turned to head to her dorm but before she could get too far, Harry grasped her arm, turning her around.

One of his hands slid into her hair, the other on her waist as he pulled her to him, kissing her full on the lips. Ginny melted into him, her knees going weak, as she clung to him, kissing him back.

Harry deepened the kiss, holding her fully against him, as her hand slid into his hair, the other on his back.

Finally they pulled apart, gasping for air.

Ginny's heart was still racing, her mind a hazy fog.

Harry leaned forward, placing light kisses on her lips, making Ginny whimper when he didn't continue. Her hand fisted into his hair as she pulled his lips back down to hers.

The two broke apart when Crookshanks knocked a book onto the floor.

"Wow," Ginny mumbled as she pressed her forehead into his neck.

"Y-Yeah," was all he could say.

"I…I already got my kiss," she said softly.

"I know but what a perfect way to end our date," he told her as he smiled down at her.

She looked up at him, leaning up to gently kiss his lips. "Very much so and I should probably go to bed."

"Yeah, tomorrow is Christmas," he said with a sigh.

"Then Happy Christmas Harry," she told him smiling.

"Happy Christmas Gin," he replied as he kissed her one last time.

The kiss was slow and sweet and still made Ginny's knees weak. They pulled apart grinning. It was a very Happy Christmas indeed.

* * *

**A/N: I know its not christmas but this like randomly popped into my head and kept me from working on something else! **

**To all who are reading my stories, i am SOOOO sorry that I haven't gotten to them lately but what can you do when you don't have any ideas?**

**total Harry/Ginny, too much my favorite not to do it. I hope you all liked it. I left out what exactly happened on the date because I think its better to not know then to. Don't ask why.**

**Thanks **

**Seritha**


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